Pardoned
by Normans.Babe
Summary: A/U, No Zombies. A bethyl story. Daryl gets a new job and comes to face with realities that he is not used to being faced. His brother is a troubled man and the girl of his life has a deep secret. What will come of Daryl? What will come of Merle? Will he still love the girl? Read to find out!
1. Chapter 1

It was my first day at work at my new job. I recently just bailed my brother out of jail for the eightieth time. He just needs to get his life together, I swear. I can't handle his constant nuisance. He needs to go to rehab or just at least try to get off the coke and heroin. He was in and out of juvie my whole childhood. God knows I could have used someone with the crap I had to deal with when he wasn't there. When no one was there but me and Paw.

I walk up to this stupid outdoor store. It is the kind that sales camping, fishing, hunting, and boating crap. People now days are lucky to have this by choice. They have the luxury of having this. They didn't have to grow up camping because your paw ran you out of the house because he was drunk constantly and trying to hit ya. They are lucky that their paw didn't try to shoot at them at least once a week, like mine and Merle's. Lucky, that's what they are. I'm ready for my freaking turn at the high life.

I get in and clock-in in the back. I walk up and get the stupid little work hat that they make us wear. I look at myself in my reflection that I see in the window. I read the backwards lettering of "Camper's Nest" on the cap. The worst name that someone could have named an outdoors store. I bet it was some rich guy thinking that his name was clever. Idiot.

I guess this job will just have to work though, because in less than a month I'll have to bail Merle out again and I am out of money. I see the manager, Glenn. I go talk to him and ask him what I am supposed to do. You see, I'm in "training" as they call it. This is honestly my first job. I've always just followed Merle round and crash with his friends while he's in jail. I didn't think I needed this crap. I could live by myself without anyone's help. I don't need no one.

"Oh, hey Daryl!" Glenn says. He is always in a good mood. That will probably get old fast. "You will be stocking the shelves and stuff today ok? Here follow me around and I will show you around the store and where everything is. I'm not going to be running the cash register today. That's the worst part of the job, it's too stressful. If you need me you can just find me around the store helping customers or doing something."

He shows me around the store pointing out that there are signs to help me see the different sections of the store that read "Camping," "Hunting," and "Fishing," So, I know where the tents, fishing poles, and guns are at. He leads me to the store room and says, "Well, just walk around the store and see if anything needs to be restocked and if they do, come get it from here. Remember to write down on this clipboard," he says as her hands me a clipboard with a bunch of products on it. He continues, "what you get out of here, ok?"

I nod in reply as he turns and walks off. I decide to walk around to see what the shelves need more items. I see a couple of other workers asking shoppers if they can help them find anything.

I am carrying some kind of fancy poles to the fishing section of the store and I am stopped by this girl. She has long blonde hair and looks only a couple years younger than me. She doesn't look like the type girl that you would normally see in this store. She looks to perfect. Like she was the cheer leader in high school, goes to college, and gets everything she wants from daddy.

The customer asks me, "Um, excuse me? Can you please tell me where to find the sleeping bags?" She smiles shyly and looking down holding her hands together. I think I might remember where they are because earlier this morning I saw them when looking for the other hiking boots.

I say, "Oh, um, yeah." I lay the poles down and say, "Um, follow me." She looks at me and I see a flash of confusion in her eyes before she nods. I think to myself the normal thing a worker would do, would be to point her in the direction of item and go about their work. I say, "Um, today is my first day so I didn't think I could give you correct directions to the without seeing where I was leading you," as I walked her to the sleeping bags.

She laughs and says, "Oh, ok." She stops and looks at the sleeping bags and then turns to look at me. She smiles and asks, "Well since you are new here, I don't assume you know which of these the best is, huh?"

I shake my head and say, "Naw, I ain't never used a sleeping bag before in my life. I never went 'camping' I just was survivin'." She looks at me confused and I just shake my head. I don't know why I'm telling this to a complete stranger, but it feels nice. I say, "I can go get someone to help you if you want, I'm not much help 'round here right now."

She shakes her head and smiles. "No, that is fine. I think I'll just get this pink one, it's cute, don't you think?"

I laugh and say, "That sure does look like you." I lift my hand and point my thumb behind me towards the fishing poles and say, "Well then, if you need anything that I can't help you with, I will be trying to put those fishing poles where they are supposed to go and not on the floor."

She laughs at my small joke and says, "Thank you for your help," she looks at my name tag and continues, "Daryl." I smile and walk off back to the fishing poles. I can't believe she is getting that pink sleeping bag. It sure does suit who I thought she was.

I look at my watch and see that it is 11:25 and see that it is almost my lunch hour and I couldn't be happier to leave here. I need a smoke. I go find Glenn and tell him that I'm leaving and I'll be back at twelve thirty. He smiles and says, "See you later then, Daryl." I nod and leave.

I get out to my truck and unlock it. This truck might be a piece of crap, but I love it. I got it off a bet that I won against Merle. It's an old orange 60s model Chevy. It's a tough truck, living with Merle it has to be. I should to know. I don't really have time to go home, eat, and be back in time for work, so I just go to one of the diners around here.

The waitress that took my order looked kind of familiar. I know for a fact that I have never seen her before, but I just recognize her features. Her name tag says Maggie. I don't know any Maggies. Why does she look so familiar? Her short brown hair falls just below her jaw line and her brown eyes look at me. She put down my food and asks if I need anything else and just I shake my head no as I stare at her trying to figure out who she is. I think I freak her out a little because she looks at me weird and walks away.

I see a car drive up next to the window I'm sitting at and park. I take a drag if my cigarette and watch to see who gets out of it. I couldn't believe who it was. It was that girl from work. I watch her as she locks her door and it hits me. That's who Maggie reminds me of! She must be her sister or something. Well this just got weird.

She walks in and I try not to look at her a whole lot. I see her hug Maggie when she gets in. Maggie smiles but I couldn't hear what they were saying. They move closer and sit at the bar that is only a couple of feet away from me. The blonde is facing the opposite direction from me, but Maggie is facing toward me. I heard the blonde say, "I just got back from there and I didn't see him." I heard Maggie make a noise like she was irritated. The blonde says, "I can go back if you want. What does he look like again?"

Maggie says, "He's Asian. He has to work there! He was wearing that hat, you know the purple one tha-" She looks at me and says, "like the one that guy has." Blondie turns to look at me, I turn my face to look out the window and smoke my cigarette. I hear her turn around and she whispers something that I can't hear. They have some kind of conversation that I can't hear because they just whisper the rest of it.

I look over because I am done and I need the check to I can pay for my lunch. She gets up and walks over to me and asks, "Do you need your check?" I nod in reply. She gives me my check and points me over to the register and asks, "I'll meet you over there ok?" I nod, get my hat off of the table, and get up.

I walk to the register and wait on Maggie. I pay for my food and turn to leave as I see her mouth something to Blondie. I go to walk out of the diner and I see the blonde follow me. I open the door and I move out of the way so she could go out in front of me.

She smiles and walks through the door. I walk through going to my truck when she calls, "He, um, Daryl right?" I turn around to face her and look at her. She says, "So, um, is there an Asian man that works in your store?"

I look her and ask, "Why?"

She replies, "Well, he came in here one time and my sister, Maggie, thought he was cute and now she has a sort of crush on him and she wants to see him again."

"Oh." I reply. "Well yeah. His name is Glenn; he's the manager of the store. Is that why you were in there today, looking for Glenn?" I ask.

She laughs, "Yeah, it is, she has been begging me to see if he works there still. Well now I know he does, but I don't know what she plans on doing now."

She's talking and I just keep staring at her. She is really pretty, the too pretty type, the type that will never go for a trainee in an outdoor store redneck. I'm not her type, which she's not one either, but she is so pretty. I say without thinking, "Well what about tomorrow?" She just looks at me confused. I explain, "Is Maggie gonna be working tomorrow? I might be able to get him to come have lunch with me here tomorrow."

She smiles and says, "Oh! Yes! That would be great! How about you text me and tell me if that plan will work?"

I stare at her. Okay, she is giving me her number; I mean it's not really for her, but still. She just looks at me because I haven't replied. "Oh, yeah, um, sure," I say.

She smiles and exclaims, "Awesome! Thank you so much! Maggie will be so happy!"

I look at her waiting for her to give me her number and she just looks at me. I say, "So, um, here is my phone, I'll need your number to text you." I gave her my phone and she smile and begins to type in her number into my phone. She gave it back and I look at it. She hadn't put her name in so I just put her name as Blondie.

I said, "Well, I'll talk to you tomorrow, I guess. I have to get back to work, now." I smile and wave bye as I get into my truck and leave.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The rest of the day goes by fast and soon, I get to go home. I live with my cousin Carol, her daughter Sophia, and her husband Tyreese. This job will help me get my own place and I'll be able to pay the bills. Carol and Ty don't really mind me staying here; I help them with the bills and groceries. I always got money doing little jobs around town.

I walk in and see Carol teaching Sophia. Carol home schools Sophia. I don't know why, but she does and I'm not going to be the one who questions her. She hears me come in and looks up from Sophia and looks at me. She smiles and asks, "So, how was your first day?"

"Ah, you know, boring. It pisses me off at times because no one there really knows how to camp. Not the real way, anyways. They just know how to be in pink sleeping bags and tents and how to use grills for their food. They should try to catch their own food, and sleeping on the ground on nothing but leaves and their clothes being their blankets."

Carol just looks at me and shakes her head she asks, "Do you really want other people to have to go through what you did? You shouldn't wish that on people, Daryl."

"I don't wish that on people," I say to defend myself. "I just wish they wouldn't rub it in my face that they didn't go through what I did."

"Daryl, they aren't rubbing it in your face, they are just being themselves. They can't help that they had it good and you didn't, don't be so hard on them, sweetie." I nod and go down the hall to my room. I hate how she is always right. She hasn't always had the good life. She is right now, but it wasn't always like that and I am happy that she doesn't go through what she did. If I had been around then, things wouldn't have ended well.

I get to work five minutes early I need to talk to Glenn about going to the diner. I barely know the guy, how do I ask him to have lunch with me without sounding like I'm asking him out? Well, I have until lunch to figure it out. I clock in and find Glenn and ask him, "So same as yesterday?"

He turns around and sees that it is me and smiles and nods. He says, "Yeah you will be doing the same thing for the rest of the week, probably. Unless that's what you want to keep doing."

I nod and remember Blondie asking me what the best sleeping bag was. I say, "Oh, Glenn. I was wondering if you knew which of the sleeping bags was the best?" He looks at me questioningly so I say, "Well I was asked yesterday which was the best and I couldn't tell the customer because I didn't know. I want to be prepared in case she comes in again." And also, I'll have an excuse to talk to her if she returns, but I don't tell him that.

He smiles and says, "Oh! Well that would be the ones are the far left. They are in order from best to worst. We do that so we don't have to remember the name brands, because we don't want to have to remember the names of everything in the store." Well that is good to know. He continues, "Everything in the store is lined up like that, the best on the left the worst on the right." I nod and thank him and go to the store room.

I go put off asking Glenn to go to lunch at the diner with me because I don't know how to ask him. I only have a couple of hours until Lunch so I need to ask soon. I'm not gonna let Blondie down. Oh, I can just ask her how to do it.

I get out my phone and find her number and text her. I text out my message and read over it to make sure it sounds ok. It says, "Hey? Um its Daryl, from Camper's Nest.. How do I ask him?" I realize this sounds horrible so I try again. I Type, "Hey Blondie, It's Daryl. So I'm having a sort of problem can you come up here and help me?" I don't know if she will be there today and I want to see her. I can't believe this. I'm getting a crush on little Miss Perfect. But she is, perfect. I know the message will probably end in disaster, but I send it anyways.

I wait to get a reply and it turns out I don't have to wait too long. She replies, "Oh sure. I will be right there." She is true to her word. She walks through the door about five minutes later. She texts me and asks where am I. I reply, "By the sleeping bags." She walks around the isle and when I see her I was stunned. She looks so beautiful. Her hair is curled and down. She has on some make up but not a lot, and her outfit looks amazing on her.

She walks up to me and asks, "So what's the problem?"

I look at her. I don't know how to put my problem into words. I raise my arm to scratch the back of my head and say, "Well, I don't know how to ask him. I am going to, but I don't really know him, and I don't want him to think I'm asking him on a date. Do you have any ideas?"

She laughs out loud and smiles, "Oh, yeah I have an idea."

I see Glenn talking to a co-worker across the store. I walk up to him and tap him on his shoulder. He turns around and smiles. I ask, "Hey can I talk to you for a sec?" He looks at me confused and his grin fades. I point over to the wall and walk away with him following me. I say, "So, um, I like this girl, but she she makes me really nervous and I don't want to make a fool of myself in front of her. And I don't really have any friends, so I was wondering if maybe you would come with me. I was planning on going to the diner down the road. I'm pretty sure she's gonna be there again today."

I looked at him to try and read his facial expression to see if he was going to say yes or not. He just looked at me for a moment then he smiled. He slapped me on my back and said, "Yeah man, I'll go with you. I'm sure you would do the same for me. What diner is it?"

I smile and say, "Oh great, thanks man. It's Paw's Diner just down the road." I wonder why he hasn't gone back after that day that Maggie saw him? I guess he could just be busy and not have time to go to lunch. I mean, he is the new manager here. "Well, I will come get you when it's my break, is that ok?"

He nodded and smiled and said, "I'll see you in a little bit." I smile and begin to walk off to go see Blondie. I wonder what her real name is? I kind of like using her nickname that I gave her. I assume she will tell me eventually.

I meet her back at the sleeping bags and smile. She looks at me hopefully. I say, "So it's a date. He said he would come. I have to say, I was a little surprised your plan worked. Thank you for helping me out there."

She smiled and shook her head. "No, thank you. What you're doing for my sister is so nice. I mean, you don't even know her and you are helping her meet Glenn. That is so sweet." She touches my arm and says, "Well I will see you around, ok?" as she turns and leaves.

What does she mean she'll "see me around"? She isn't coming to the diner today? Oh, no. I call after her, "Hey, Blondie!" She stops and turns around. I walk up to her and ask, "You're going to be there, right? At the diner? You have to be."

She smiles and says, "Why do I have to be there, Mr. Daryl?"

I stutter, "B-because I-I uh, I is your sister, you need to be there when Glenn is there. Just in case. Y-you know?" I don't know why I am so caught up in her. I just need her to be there today. I want her to be there today. I want to point her out as the girl I like to Glenn. I added, "Plus, the girl I supposedly like is supposed to be there. Who am I supposed to point out and go talk to? Some random woman? I'm sorry Blondie, but you have to be there, Plus, I don't want to be the third wheel of Maggie and Glenn." I end with a smile, because I know I just let on, in some way, that I might have a crush on her.

She smiles and says, "Well then, it's a date," and walks off. Gah, that girl. I watch her leave the store and I sigh audibly to myself. I smile the rest of the time until it gets close to 11:30.

**Okay guys, so I just got this story changed to a different format. Every time I have tried the words just disappeared. I should be posting more regularly now! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

I walk up to Glenn and ask, "So are you ready?" I smile at him as he grins at me. He slaps my back again and leads me out the door. I ask, "Do you want to just ride with me, or do you want to take your own vehicle?"

He looks at me and says, "Oh, I'll just ride with you, if that is ok." I nod my head and point to my truck. We get in the truck and drive down the road. He asks me, "so, what does this girl look like?"

I smile, thinking about her face. I say, "Oh she's beautiful. Light blonde hair, gorgeous face, perfect body. I don't really know a lot about her, but I want to." I realize when I'm saying this, that everything I am saying is true.

He laughs and says, "Well she must be great, judging by the smile you wear whenever you talk about her." I know that he is picking on me, but I can't help but smile when I think about her. I park the truck and get out. I look around the parking lot looking for her car. I start to get worried, until I see it parked over in a corner almost hidden by the big jeep parked beside her. I smile to myself and we go inside.

We sit inside the same booth I sat in yesterday. I get out my cigarettes and ask, "Do you mind?" He shakes his head no. I shrug and light one up. I look at him, "You see that blonde girl talking to the waitress?" I ask, pointing towards her. He smiles and nods then turns and looks at me. He raises his eyebrows and looks at me like he knows something. I laugh and say, "That's her." I want to go talk to her, because neither Maggie nor she noticed us coming in. I ask Glenn, "Should I go talk to her?"

He looks me and says, "Yeah man! Go get your girl!" as he gets up and starts pulling me out of my seat. I laugh at him and go up to her.

I reach her and put my hand on her shoulder and quietly say, "We are here, Blondie." I can see her smile whenever she hears me say her nickname.

She turns around and whispers in my ear, "Maggie doesn't know. I wanted to surprise her." He steps back and smiles at me. Her teeth are so white and her smile is beautiful. I look up from her and look at Maggie. I smile at her and then I look at Blondie. She says, "Oh, Maggie, this is Daryl. He works at Camper's Nest down the road. Daryl, this is Maggie."

I smile and laugh to myself, because She and I both know that I know who Maggie is, but Maggie doesn't know me, and I assume she won't be knowing I already knew who she was. I reach out my hand to shake hers. She looks at me for a while, then smiles and shakes my hand. I say to Maggie, "Um, I'm sorry to interrupt y'all, but I just want to ask if we can get something to drink?" I look sideways at Blondie and see her smile. Maggie looks at me and asks, "Oh, yeah. I'm sorry; do you know what you want?"

I smile and say, "Oh, um a glass of sweat tea and a cup of coffee." She smiles and walks off to get our drinks and I look at Blondie. I say, "Well, Glenn had good things to say about you when I pointed you out to him." I wink at her just to see her smile. I know that I am awkward, but it seems like she kind of likes it. I like being able to be myself around her. It's nice. "You want to meet him?" I ask her.

She looks at Maggie, still busy fixing our drinks and says, nods. We walk over to Glenn and my booth. I sit down and ask her, "Do you want to sit down?" To my surprise, she sat down. I look at Glenn and raise my eyebrows like he did to me earlier. I say, "Oh, I went ahead and got our drinks, I didn't know what you wanted so I got you sweet tea, is that ok?"

He nods and says, "Yeah man, that's my favorite." He looks to Blondie and smiles. He starts to say something but then stops as Maggie walks up to the booth and places our drinks on the table. She looks at me and takes my order then looks at Glenn. She freezes and I look at Blondie. I smile and so does she. Glenn looks at her and then at me. He looks confused. Maggie regains her composure and takes his order.

When she goes to walk away she asks, "Beth, can I talk to you?" Beth? That is her name, Beth? It's nice. It suits her. It is kind of innocent sounding, but that's how I view her; innocent. I look at her and smile. She smiles back at me and walks away.

Glenn looks at me and says, "Well that was weird, but she was cute." I laugh and shake my head. "So, how did it go over there? You looked like you didn't need me here."

I freeze, not knowing what to say. I say, "Naw, man that was because of you. I had confidence because of you. You know Beth and Maggie are sisters." He just looks at me confused. I say, "The waitress, Maggie, is her sister." He nodded his head and looked at Maggie. I look at her and then back at him and say, "Cute huh? It must run in their family."

He blushes and says, "It must. She is cute though." I look over at Beth and smile. Maggie is still talking to her and looking at our table with short glances. I see Beth smile and look at me. She gets up and walks back over here.

This time, I get up and offer her a seat, which she takes, and slide in beside her. I look at her and say, "So, Glenn here, "I say pointing to him, "says that your sister is quite the looker." We both look at him and see him begin to blush. I ask Glenn, "Why don't you go talk to her?"

Glenn's eyes grow he and he starts to stutter, "I-I can't go talk to her." I laugh quietly to myself but just keep looking at him.

Beth looks at him and asks, "What? Why can't you go talk to her?" I can tell that she is getting excited for her sister. Her dream man, thinking she is cute. We both just see Glenn shake his head no. She says, "She thinks you are cute. Oh, you know what, go up to her, and tell her you would like to get a coffee instead of sweet tea."

He looks at the both of us and says, "But I like my sweet tea." We both laugh and I get up and pull him out of his seat.

I look at him in the eye, pat his back, and say, "Go get your girl."

He laughs at me and shakes his head. He says, "How dare you use my line on me?"

I turn to look at Beth, then back to him. "Hey, hush and go talk to her." He walks off in her direction and I turn around to see Beth looking at me. I return to our seat and ask, "So, Beth, huh? I guess now that I know your name I can just calling you that other than Blondie." I will still call her Blondie because, that's my name for her. It makes me feel like I'm not just some person who calls her Beth, like others.

She laughs, and says, "Oh darn, I really liked that one." She elbows me and I laugh. We look at Maggie and Glenn. They walk over here carrying our food. We hurry and eat because our lunch hour is almost up.

I get up, and offer my hand to Beth to help her out of her seat. She takes and she stands up. When she stands up, I don't let go, neither does she. I lay ten dollars on the table with my spare hand and tell Glenn I will meet him at the truck. She leads me to the door of the diner. I walk up in front of her, let go of her hand to open the door for her and to let her lead the way. I walk back by her and say as we get to my truck, "Well that was fun."

She nods and looks at her feet. She says without looking up, "Yeah, it was." She looks up at me and continues, "Thank you for doing this for Maggie." She touches my shoulder like she is about to leave, but then she gives me a hug. I hug her back. She pulls away too quickly and says, "What time is it?"

I look at my watch and say, "12:22."

She looks at me horrified and says, "Oh no, I have to go. Tell Glenn it was nice to meet him. See you around, Daryl." She runs off to her car and speeds off. I wonder what was wrong. She looked terrified when I told her the time. Maybe she was just late for something. I just can't shake the feeling that something is wrong.

Glenn gets in the truck smiling. I look at him and say, "So y'all gonna meet up soon?" I leave the diner and I drive to work. Glenn tells me all about how cute Maggie is, how funny she is, and how they planned to go out this weekend. I am only half listening to him because I can't stop thinking about Beth.

I get home at five-thirty. Work lasted forever. I walk in and go to Carol. She sees the look on my face and gives me a hug. She knows I don't like talking about my problems, so she doesn't ask. I wish she would ask; I need her opinion. What was wrong with Beth? I texted her at about three but she didn't reply, which even worries me more.

I pull away from her hug and go sit down on the couch. She just look sat me from inside the kitchen. I look up at her and ask, "Can I ask you something?"

She looks at me confused and says, "Yeah of course, Daryl. What is it?"

I look at her and shake my head, "I just don't know. Today, my," I paused not knowing what to call her, "friend, um she worried me. And I don't know why I am so worried by it."

Carol looks confused and asks, "What did she do?"

I look at her and say, "It's probably nothing, but I was on my lunch break and I was leaving to go back to work. She asked what time it was and I told her. She looked horrified and told me she had to go and ran off to her car and left. Then I texted her around three and she never replied. I just have a bad feeling."

She looks at me and says, "She might have just been late or something, it doesn't necessarily mean something is bad."

I nod and say, "Yeah, I thought of that, but why wouldn't she just say, 'Oh, I'm late gotta go' or something, not 'Oh no' then run away. Carol, I just don't know,"

She shakes her head and says, "I don't know sweetie, you will just have to wait and see if she will tell you." I nod, get up, and head to my room.


	4. Chapter 4

I wake up at nine. And walk in the kitchen. No one else is awake just yet. I decide to make breakfast for Tyreese, Carol, and Sophia.

Sophia walks in as I start cooking. I look at her and say, "Hey Soph, do you wanna help? I am making pancakes." She nods her head and walks over.

She gives me a hug and says, "I miss you. You are never home anymore." I start to tell her that I am sorry but then she notices the eggs and asks, "Ohh! Can I crack the eggs? Mom never lets me!" I laugh and hand them over. I grab a chair and pick her up and put her on it. She points at the bowl and I nod.

I watch her crack the eggs as I get out the pan and start getting ready to pour them in the pan. Sophia asks me, "Can you make a piggy?"

I laugh and say, "I can try Soph."

Carol comes in the room when we finish. She comes and looks over Soph's shoulder and points to the pig and asks, "What is that?" as she laughs.

I laugh nudging her with my elbow and say, "Oh, um, well Soph wanted me to make a pig." Soph broke out in laughter and so did I. It was a really bad pig pancake. The nose was bulbous and the feet were no longer hooves, but more like a snail stomach. How do people make good artistic pancakes?

We all ate as they all made fun of my pig pancake. We ate all of the pancakes and I was helping Carol wash the dishes when the phone rang.

I walked over to the phone and answered it. I hear a familiar voice on the other end of the phone saying, "Hey there baby brother." I knew it wasn't going to be long before I got another one of these calls.

I open the door and walk up to the desk. I tell the officer at the desk that I am here for Merle. He looks at me and shakes his head.

He says, "Follow me." He walks down a hallway as I follow him. I talked to Carol about what to do. I do not have the money to get him out of here right now. I just got my job two days ago.

I ask him, "What is he in for?"

The cop just looked at me and rolled his eyes. This is why I hate cops. They are judgmental pigs. Just because I am here for Merle, he thinks I am just as stupid s him.

I tried a couple of the stuff Merle is hooked on, but I never got hooked. Merle was just so wasted he made me try it. That's when I left him. I didn't want to end up like him and Paw.

The cop stopped and opened the door. He lets me walk in, and then he follows me in. I see Merle sitting handcuffed behind a table, opposite of me.

I shake my head and say, "Merle what did you do this time?"

"Aww, come on now baby brother. I don't get no hello or anythin'?" He asks laughing. He drives me crazy. I am about tempted to just turn and leave him in the room.

"No, Merle, no hello or anything. I had to drive all the way out here to see you sitting up in another jail looking for help. It's Sunday, my day off, do you really think that I want to be here? No. I don't! " I spit out angrily.

"Oh, is mister big shot here? I see how it is. You done growed up and got you a job and now you are too good for your own kin? Is that how it's gonna be, baby brother?" He laughs but I can see he is irritated.

"No Merle, that isn't how it is. I got a job because I knew you would be back in here again. I don't have the money to get you out of here. Carol doesn't have it either and I am not gonna ask her for it. She has been too good to me. You are just gonna have to sit this one out, Merle."

"You can't just leave me in here!"

"Yes I can. I am I don't have a choice. You should have already learned to stay away from that shit, Merle. How many times have you been in here? You don't even know. I bet he does," I say angrily turning around to point at the cop.

"If you leave me here, you will regret it Daryl." He says.

I shrug at him and say, "No, you will. I should have left you in here the first time. Maybe you will realize what you are doing and get your head on straight and stop being so damn stupid. Get help Merle. Come see me when you got your shit straight. I'm tired, Merle. I'm tired." Turn around and leave the room,

I drive around Atlanta, not wanting to go back home now. My day is totally ruined. I let my mind drift thinking about everything. I think about my old life.

_I was eighteen, not caring what is right and wrong. I just follow my brother. Everywhere. I left paw two years ago and I don't regret anything about that decision. I decided it was my turn to decide what happens to me from now own. No more beatings that I didn't bring on myself, no more yelling because he was drunk, no more him. I thought I was happy._

_Merle and I are running in the woods. Merle just punched a guy in his face for some heroin and knocked him out. Because Merle knocked him out, he took the whole bag._

_He gets loaded while we are laughing in the woods. We are sitting down and he tells me an old story of when he was in juvie. Merle is twenty now, been in and out of jail, so he has plenty of stories. He looks at me, his little brother, who does no wrong in his eyes and asks, "Do you want some?"_

_I shake my head no, I know to stay away from that crap. I have seen Merle almost OD and go through withdrawals. He is now high, and let me tell you, his temper is not normal when he's on heroin._

_I see his forehead scrunch up and he says, "Here try it. It feels great." I still just shake my head no. He gets upset and says, "Now, baby brother, I am being polite, now take some."_

_I say, "Naw, Merle, I don't want to mess with that stuff," As I shake my head. He grabs a needle that is already fixed up and walks over to me. I say, "Merle, leave me alone ok? I said I don't want it." I stick my arms out toward him._

_He pulls my arm towards him. He sticks the needle into the crook of my elbow and I yell at him. I try to jerk away and make him stop, but Merle is a lot stronger than me. He injects the heroin in my arm and smiles. He walks away, leaving me in the woods. I run after him and yell, "What the hell Merle? Why did you do that?"_

_He turns to me and says, "Because little brother, I wanted to." He turns and walks away. I huff and punch him in the head. He turns around and punches me back. I fall to the ground and try to crawl away, instantly regretting my decision to hit him. He gets on top of me and just starts hitting me over and over._

_When my face is covered in blood and I can't see out of one of my eyes, he stops hitting me and gets up. He walks away and leaves me there. I lay there for hours before I can get up and find my way out of the woods._

_I find a gas station and ask the cashier if I can borrow her phone. She sees my face and realizes I need to call someone important and hands me then phone. That's when I call Carol._

I realize that I have parked my truck outside a bar when I start paying attention to what I am doing. I shake my head and back out of the parking lot and head back home.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys, sorry I've been gone so long, honestly, I forgotten all about this and I just started writing again. I may post one or two more chapters today, I only have 12 chapters finished and I'm maybe a quarter of the way finished with the next. I'll post on Wattpad too. I usually post things at the same time, but on the rare occasion, I may post one first then another a couple of days later. Get your friends to read this if you like it :) Follow my TWD Insta: or my personal, which is in my Insta bio! I also am writing a Heroes fanfic if anyone on here is in that fandom. It is called The Power of Perfection. Its Peter and Claire! okay, here's **

**Chapter 5!**

I haven't been back to the diner in a week. I drive past it every day to see if I see her car, but it hasn't been there. I haven't heard from her since last Saturday, either. Something is just wrong. I can feel it.

I can't ask her sister, because she will think I'm a stalker or something. I'm just so worried about her. What happened to her? She was so scared.

I'm at work now; I've been here for a week and a couple of days. I enjoy it a lot more than I came here thinking. This store helps my people skills. I don't really have any.

I see Glenn walk by and I call to him. "Glenn!" I yell. He turns to see that it is me and he scurries over to me. He and I have become pretty close friends since Saturday. He and Maggie have been out on a date and I think he really likes her.

He gets to me and says, "Hey Daryl! Oh, guess what? Maggie and I went out on another date yesterday. It was great." He says smiling.

I give him the best shot at a smile that I could back, but then I look down. He doesn't know that I haven't seen or talked to Beth since he left me in the parking lot that day.

He noticed that something was wrong and asked, "Hey, is everything okay?"

I shrug and say, "It's just Beth. I haven't seen her since Saturday. She didn't reply to my text and I don't want to keep bothering her, I guess she just isn't interested, not that I could blame her. Plus I got my brother in jail, and I hate leaving him in there, but you know about that."

He puts his hand on my shoulder and nods his head. I ask, "Hey, can you do me a favor?"

He looks at me and says, "Yeah, man, anything you need. You know I'm here for you."

I ask, "Well, can you just make sure that she is ok? Beth, I mean? Just ask Maggie how she is, you don't even have to bring me into it, I just need to know that she is okay. Please?"

He nods his head and says, "Yeah man, I'll make sure she is fine." I give him a hug and walk away to go clock out.

I drive home but stop at the gas station to get some cigarettes. I pull up and walk into the gas station, I go up to the register, get the cigarettes, and then go outside. I get in my truck and leave. As I'm driving down the road I see a KIA that is grey, just like hers. I can't see into the windshield, but I just know that its hers.

I watch the car in my mirror. The car stops at the little gas station that I just left. I make a U turn in the middle of the road and drive back to the station. I park, and I go inside.

I see her. She is getting a drink from the fridge. I walk over to her and say, "Hey, Blondie." She turns around and smiles. I say, "Hey, long time no see. What have you been up to?"

She smiles and shrugs. She says, "Not much, what about you?"

I shake my head and say,"Oh nothing, I just been wondering when I would see you again." I winked at her and she smiled. I told myself that if I saw her again, no fear.

She giggles and says, "Oh well, today I guess."

I am starting to get nervous. I push it away and ask her, "So, can I ask you something, Beth?"

She looks at me and nods. I breathe to release my nerves and ask, "Do you wanna, maybe, go out sometime?" I start to blush. I look down at and put my hand in my pockets. I look up at her with my head still bent down.

She smiles and says, "Oh, um, sure. I'll have to let you know when I can though, you know, I have a busy schedule." That doesn't sound good.

I nod and say, "You don't have to if you don't want. I understand."

"No, no it's not that. I do, I am just so busy right now." She reaches out to grab my arm.

"Oh, ok. Well text me when you are free. You know what? Maggie and Glenn have been out on like two dates now." I figure maybe she would be more comfortable with her sister there.

She smiles and asks, "Aren't you so happy about that? I am!"

I smile and say, "Well, I have to cook tonight, so I'll see you later, okay? And hey, don't forget that I have a phone, you can text me." She gives me a hug that I wasn't expecting. I walk back to my truck. For some reason, I'm more troubled than I was before.

Glenn texts me as I get home and the message says: _Hey Daryl. So I asked Maggie about Beth. She told me that she hasn't talked to her in a while. She said that she tends to just stop showing up sometimes and she won't hear from her for weeks then she will come see her. She says it is really weird. Beth just says she's busy, but Maggie doesn't believe her._

I read the message and wonder to myself why she just disappears. I text him back and say: _I saw her today and she told me the same thing, that she has been busy. I asked her out and she said she's really busy but she will._

He texts me back: _Oh ok. That is weird and maybe we can double! Make you less nervous and maybe her too! I'll talk to Maggie._

_Thanks man, see you at work tomorrow_: I replied.

I cook burgers for everyone at the house. I ask Carol to come see me and she comes outside with me while I smoke. I tell her what happened today at the gas station. I even tell her about what Glenn messaged me and said. She just shrugs and says that she doesn't know that that means.

I tell her, "Carol, I just don't know. I feel like something is up. I mean, I just have a bad feeling."

She gives me a hug and says into my ear, "Things will work out for you Daryl. I promise. I don't know if it will with her, but you will be fully happy soon. Now, come inside and eat." She takes the cigarette out of my mouth and put it out. I follow her inside.


End file.
